User:Thesoundzoo

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Jona Byron
''' Jona Byron is a singer/songwriter/instrumentalist who is not easy to pigeonhole. He has a unique voice that balances somewhere between Grant Lee Phillips, Elliot Smith, and Jeff Buckley. But there is no mistaking his lyrical aphorism and his approach to music, which is raw and painfully honest. Coming from a musical family (Grandfather was a writer and Jazz musician), he was raised on everything from Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli along with his step fathers collection of Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, The Beatles and Joni Mitchell; artists which helped mold his appreciation and a broader view of music at an early age, and later with many contemporary rock influences.

Born in Sydney, adopted illegally by nuns and then won back by his mother, Jona's life began and remained unconventional; raised in Western Australia at the end of the 70'hippie movement; he was surrounded by artists as a boy and explored much of the state with his family, often on the move.

He has lived, worked and performed in Melbourne now for 10 years, releasing 2 previous independent EP's along with an album from instrumental band 'The Boats', and has styled his own unique fusion of rootsy & epic folk/rocstylehighk. His long term collaboration with friend and drummer Dale G. Thomas spanned back to 2005 and the duo recorded and worked on much of Jona's music to date, however Jona's new band consists of Pete Uhlenbruch (Owls Of The Swamp) - guitar, Dave Bennett (Silent Reading) - bass and Alex Rogowski (Lamplight) on drums, and the music is the most dynamic it has been since Jona's early band 'The Dirty Royals' (2002 - 2005).

Jona's music and songwriting has been revered by artists such as Conway Savage (The Bad Seeds) and Glenn Richards (Augie March) and he has toured and played with acts such as Machine Translations, Sime Nugent and Jason Mraz.

 Extinct Hearts Jona Byron's beautiful new mini-album ‘Extinct Hearts' is much more than just a warmer for his full length debut album ‘Halos', due out 2010. It is a seminal piece of work. The 7 tracks cover the last few years of Jona's musical and human journey, from homelessness, broken relationships and personal battles. 'Hearts' oozes longevity and a deep emotional core, while also acting as a musical journal of an era often full of hardship.

The new single ‘Beautiful Bird' conjures delicate moments of the late Elliot Smith and paints a story of mental illness and a lovers fading hope while resting on well-crafted melodies and stunning vocals. The angsty title opener ‘Extinct Hearts' rides on a hypnotic pulse of bass, organ and dense guitars, and acts as a warning, as Byron reflects on a world gone mad. ‘Glass Jaws' opens with subtle acoustics and banjo yet blooms into a powerful acoustic tour de force, with it's catchy melody, strong bass (played by Edmondo Ammendola of Augie March) and evocative imagery. The devastating ‘Arm Yourself' rolls like a medieval Leonard Cohen song complete with haunting cello work by Francesca Mountfort, while the cover of the classic Bob Dylan song ‘The Times They Are A Changing' is a beautiful departure from the original and works more as a contemporary apocalyptic anti-war song.

The mini album was produced by Jona himself in various houses, studios and locations across Melbourne, with producer Myles Mumford (Lamplight, Kate Vigo) stepping in for some minimal production at Atlantis Sound. 'Extinct Hearts' is a giant leap for an artist who has been behind the curtain for much too long.

Extinct Hearts was released Nov 17, 2009 through Popboomerang Records / MGM Distribution.

Jona S. Byron is also a writer, journalist and music producer who runs his own community based music business and blog called The Sound Zoo. For more links and access to more information visit and his official site